Estes Dings & Dents flash sale

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Got my scratch and dent box today. Pretty big let down. I wasn’t really expect any diamonds but this is what I got:

- Shuttle Express kit. looks ok, but the body tube has a weird wiggle to it.
- Rocket Science Starter Set without motors or mini altitrack, so an ARF Alpha, porta- pad and controller in a beat up box
- Riptide Starter Set, so another port-pad, controller, and a RTF rocket In a beat up box
- SWAG: neck ribbon, an Estes sticker, and 2022 catalog

Nothing that I’d actually buy.
 
Lawndart said:
Got my scratch and dent box today. Pretty big let down. I wasn’t really expect any diamonds but this is what I got:

- Shuttle Express kit. looks ok, but the body tube has a weird wiggle to it.
- Rocket Science Starter Set without motors or mini altitrack, so an ARF Alpha, porta- pad and controller in a beat up box
- Riptide Starter Set, so another port-pad, controller, and a RTF rocket In a beat up box
- SWAG: neck ribbon, an Estes sticker, and 2022 catalog

Nothing that I’d actually buy.
Click to expand...
Was that the mystery box? I’ve seen posts on FB where people got a decent deal, like a designer’s special or the astrocam, but it seems like you got a dud. Bummer.

I like the shuttle express. It takes a bit of work to get those shuttles trimmed right, but when you do, they can fly forever. I know, cuz that’s how I lost mine.

The rest of that package, though, — not that great.

I’m still waiting on the shuttle and blue origin I ordered. Should be here tomorrow.
 
got my shuttle today. only damage was a slight opening at the heat seal of the bag. one of the coolest kits ever. swag was a stainless steel thermal bottle with a black Estes print. also got a catalog and a chiller sticker. still waiting on my second purchase, the big box o' mystery, which apparently has taken a job at the denver post office.
 
Pappy said:
got my shuttle today. only damage was a slight opening at the heat seal of the bag. one of the coolest kits ever. swag was a stainless steel thermal bottle with a black Estes print. also got a catalog and a chiller sticker. still waiting on my second purchase, the big box o' mystery, which apparently has taken a job at the denver post office.
Click to expand...
I've noticed that with Estes order tracking, the updates seem...odd. For example, it'll say the package got picked up by the USPS at a time an date in the future. Or the package will be stuck in a location for several days, then suddenly travels across a few states in excess of Mach 4.3.
 
Lawndart said:
Got my scratch and dent box today. Pretty big let down. I wasn’t really expect any diamonds but this is what I got:

- Shuttle Express kit. looks ok, but the body tube has a weird wiggle to it.
- Rocket Science Starter Set without motors or mini altitrack, so an ARF Alpha, porta- pad and controller in a beat up box
- Riptide Starter Set, so another port-pad, controller, and a RTF rocket In a beat up box
- SWAG: neck ribbon, an Estes sticker, and 2022 catalog

Nothing that I’d actually buy.
Click to expand...
That's a bummer on the mystery box, especially because of the damage to the Shuttle Express kit. If I read the terms and conditions correctly, there was supposed to be no damage to the major components of the kits; all damage would be to the packaging (or it would be missing packaging) or the damage would only be to the decals.
 
mh9162013 said:
That's a bummer on the mystery box, especially because of the damage to the Shuttle Express kit. If I read the terms and conditions correctly, there was supposed to be no damage to the major components of the kits; all damage would be to the packaging (or it would be missing packaging) or the damage would only be to the decals.
Click to expand...
Given all the advertising that the flying parts of the kits would be in good shape, I bet a polite call to Estes customer service could get a pack of the appropriate BTs on the way at no charge.
 
SolarYellow said:
Given all the advertising that the flying parts of the kits would be in good shape, I bet a polite call to Estes customer service could get a pack of the appropriate BTs on the way at no charge.
Click to expand...
I’ve got plenty of tubes. Haven’t opened the package yet to inspect the kit.
 
OK, got my mystery box from Estes. Received two starter sets (Alpha III & Rascal/Hi Jinks); plus a Shuttle Express kit. The starter sets do not have motors, the Alpha III may not even have a chute, but that's OK because my first thought is to put a Quest D16 into that guy. The Launch pads, like a need another hole in my head. Oddly the other starter set interests me, as I've never seen those two rockets before, but again, they are disposable. On the upside, I got an Estes Sticker and the Metal Water Bottle (or is that a Thermos?) with the Estes Logo, which is very nice - Also an Estes 2022 Catalog. I also bought for the 64% discount, the New Shepard Blue Origin rocket. That looks very nice and the box doesn't appear to be damaged, but it's got some scuffs. Overall, meh, but then again I wasn't expecting much. It was a Vegas gamble.
 
mh9162013 said:
That's a bummer on the mystery box, especially because of the damage to the Shuttle Express kit. If I read the terms and conditions correctly, there was supposed to be no damage to the major components of the kits; all damage would be to the packaging (or it would be missing packaging) or the damage would only be to the decals.
Click to expand...
Opened the Shuttle kit. Everything is fine. Amazing how they crammed all the parts into the bag.
 
Received my scratch n dent order. Two Citation Patriots and New Shepard. Box and packaging appeared brand new, nothing dinged, open or missing - pleasant surprise. Swag was a catalog, sticker and lanyard - really wanted a water bottle. Not bad for just over $50 with free shipping.
 
FYI: I think Amazon bought the New Shepards from Estes Scratch and Dent sale -- Estes claims the retail is $68 but Amazon has 'em for $31.
 
Well, the "mystery box" overall wasn't a very good deal.
Looking back, I should have ordered 2 Patriots and a New Shepard, and I would have gotten a much better deal. BT-60 rockets are more my style.
But now I have some rockets that will go up on July 4th filled with firecrackers.
 
Got mine today and it was exactly as promised. The outer bag of the shuttle packaging wasnt sealed completely, but the whole is pretty small. Otherwise, the kit is in great shape. I don’t even see anything wrong with the New Shepard packaging.

My mystery swag was the Estes stainless steel bottle.
 
got my mystery box today. alpha III launch kit, no motors, hijinx and rascal launch kit, no motors, and a shuttle express. the launch kits both have price tags on them; alpha III marked at 20.99, and the rascal/hijinx at 24.99. the e2x kit is oop, but listed at 20.99. i thought i would be okay with whatever i got, but the price tags really felt like Estes was giving me the bird. when i contacted their customer service to let them know that calling this package 'a value of 150.00' was really stretching it, the rep replied that "most customers would call this a win. sorry you don't feel this way."

my opinion of Estes just took a broadside torpedo.
 
Pappy said:
got my mystery box today. alpha III launch kit, no motors, hijinx and rascal launch kit, no motors, and a shuttle express. the launch kits both have price tags on them; alpha III marked at 20.99, and the rascal/hijinx at 24.99. the e2x kit is oop, but listed at 20.99. i thought i would be okay with whatever i got, but the price tags really felt like Estes was giving me the bird. when i contacted their customer service to let them know that calling this package 'a value of 150.00' was really stretching it, the rep replied that "most customers would call this a win. sorry you don't feel this way."

my opinion of Estes just took a broadside torpedo.
Click to expand...
Ouch.

Yeah I think the sale’s execution was inconsistent. I’m surprised that it came out this way.

However, with blunders like this being so rare with Estes, I’m not generally willing to hold this against them. I just hope they learn from this experiment and be either more consistent or more honest that the package is a gamble.
 
When they said $150 or so value, but showed the types of rockets offered, and said you'd be limited to 3 rockets, I was a little taken back. I figured the mystery box would be filled with Saturn and MPR-level kits (a la Der Red Max, Door Knob, Leviathan, etc.). Seeing the other good deals from Estes, I'm wondering if there was a mixup or miscommunication in their marketing department or something.
 
smstachwick said:
...with blunders like this being so rare with Estes, I’m not generally willing to hold this against them. I just hope they learn from this experiment and be either more consistent or more honest that the package is a gamble.
Click to expand...

doesn't feel like a blunder, feels like a bare naked cash grab. i knew i was rolling the dice, but the price tags on the merch raised my ire. you just can't tell a grown adult in the US that something has a certain value above the marked price. it's absurd. and then dude tells me that most customers would think it's a win. again, not something you say to an adult, unless you have zero respect for them and/or their situation.

if i were to buy both starter sets new at current prices, i would pay around 61.00 (40 for the rascal/jinx, 21 for the alpha3) and i can get a shuttle express for 50 (launch kit) on ebay. that's the ceiling, giving this package every benefit and consideration. factor in the fact that i have 2 dozen Estes launch kits and controllers already, ZERO interest in rtf and e2x kits, and these kits are vendor discards and generally unsalable otherwise, i feel like i was bent over forward and told to smile.
 
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I received my scratch and dent order today. My initial purchase of the Citation Patriot and Alpha III appear to be intact and undamaged. The freebies consisted of an Estes key lanyard and a second Alpha III kit sans nosecone. I didn’t have any high expectations, so I was pleasantly surprised at the condition of the two kits.

EDIT:

The freebie Alpha kit was actually missing the body tube as well. I got the fin can, motor mount, chute and decals. I'm not losing any sleep over it as I am using the parts on a Citation Quasar clone and I have an extra nosecone in my parts cache.
 
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Pappy said:
doesn't feel like a blunder, feels like a bare naked cash grab.
Click to expand...
I agree that this sales gimmick was a calculated move by Estes, and not a blunder. Definitely not a blunder. I would stop short of calling it a "bare naked cash grab" but I get what you are saying Pappy. Estes wants to sell stuff and make a profit. You gambled. The House won.

The mystery grab bag $150 worth of stuff - sounds like "free prize inside!" We learned about scams deals like this when we were kids. I took one look at the list of what I might be getting in this "deal" and I said "no, thanks." I don't place value on everything Estes sells. Just the threat of getting some E2X rocket like those "Up Aerospace" was enough to wave me off.

Betcha we will never see another one of those epic clearance sales at Estes like we used to, but it's better that the new Estes is trying to do new things and stay solvent. They bought Goex... 😲
 
astronwolf said:
I agree that this sales gimmick was a calculated move by Estes, and not a blunder. Definitely not a blunder. I would stop short of calling it a "bare naked cash grab" but I get what you are saying Pappy.
Click to expand...
If customers end up unhappy then it's a blunder, period.

I did not participate in this but based on what I've read here, some folks at Estes really misjudged what they were doing with this. They thought it would be a fun way to dispose of some defective merchandise, and it could have been, but they did not manage it well at all. Their fundamental mistake, as far as I can tell, is that they don't seem to have put any effort into distributing things evenly among the different boxes.

Good idea, very bad execution.
 
Just speculating that it wouldn't be a mistake if it (the sale) was intentional.
kuririn said:
Saying their mystery bag had a retail value of $150 when it didn't was a big mistake.
Click to expand...

Depends on who is doing the math.
 
kuririn said:
Saying their mystery bag had a retail value of $150 when it didn't was a big mistake.
Click to expand...
Despite the price stickers saying $2X, those launch kits have a retail of $5X now, so I'm pretty sure retail value would still have been over $150. I understand the old price tags sticking in one's craw, though.
 

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